Some of the fun things...AKA "Guilt Trip"

Some of the fun things we did this summer...

The kids and I took off for Utah after the last day of school (yes I am crazy). We stopped in Primm that night and made it to Provo the next day. We were able to visit Uncle K.C. and Aunt Sarah a lot while we were there. Sarah was on the tail end of recooperation from her Leukemia, so we wheeled her around in a wheelchair and the kids loved every minute of it. The day we arrived in Provo, Will flew into SLC airport (surprising all family but me). I kept the news from the boys and K.C. and Sarah. It was great seeing their reaction when Will showed up at the park we took the kids to play before we parted ways that evening. :)



The day after we arrived we went to the Natural History Museum in Lehi, Utah. We had fun looking at all the artifacts and learning so much about so many things. The dinosaurs were a big hit!


Sunday took us to the Knighton's home since it was one of the few days Will would be there and we wanted to make sure we could all be together for at least a little while. We had a blast playing, talking, and especially singing! We had a battle between the men and the women. The women won with a huge lead! :) It was a great way to spend Father's Day!
Monday we went to Hogle Zoo. Will had never been and the kids hadn't gone in a long time, so it was the perfect time to go. K.C. and Sarah joined us on this outing, too, thank heavens. Sarah was a great tour guide! It was great being able to spend so much time with them. We were able to see the White Crocodile. Not to be confused with an Albino Crocodile...this one had a genetic defect that caused it to not have any pigment.








Tuesday we went to Temple Square in Salt Lake City. It worked out to have the Knighton's join us there, but K.C. and Sarah weren't able to make it...Sarah had to get a blood transfusion to help her "numbers" go up. They were missed. :( Tammy has all the pictures from that day, so hopefully I'll have some soon.
Will took off, back to Tennessee, after our visit to Temple Square. He was greatly missed the rest of the vacation, but we didn't stop partying. More vacation and summer fun to come soon...maybe tomorrow.

10 Years!

WOW! We've made it 10 years so far. After all the years of happiness, tears, joy, stress, love, and eternal bliss it feels good to say we've made it this far. I love being married to William!! I wouldn't trade it for anything. He is the only one for me!!! I look forward to the rest of our years with joyful anticipation and excitement. It's good to feel safe and secure with the one I love. Thanks babe for all the years so far and for all the years to come! I love you with every beat of my heart!

(don't miss the previous posts, there's pictures of our home)

Our House Part Deux

Here's some more of the pictures I've taken since arriving.


Here's the boys at our Island and a tiny taste of all the trees

Trees are everywhere! The picture with the trampoline is our back yard (the trampoline is the neighbors').

Kaleb lounging in the commons and Tyler in the Media room.

I never thought I'd have this much closet space. Will's side is on the left and my side is on the right (I think he has more clothes than I do). :)

There's 4 bedrooms, one we use as an office, since Will is working from home. All the "Bedrooms" are upstairs. I'll get a picture of the commons area facing all the doors to the bedrooms and bathrooms to show how we've avoided any hallways (my biggest dislike in a home). We are loving all the space. I have my mostly clean sanctuary downstairs and the mess can be upstairs. And, yes, the boys try to get away with all kinds of shinanigans on the stairs, but we try to keep it at a minimum so no one gets hurt on them. Yes, we like to spoil all the fun. Haha. The next post is going to have some of the things we were able to do during the summer...so stay tuned.

Our House

The long awaited pictures. 

The front of the house (picture taken while in motion from passenger seat) and Entry.  

Mater on the stairwell to upstairs and the Living Room downstairs.

Our Heaven sent Soaking Tub and the Master Bath with Logan going potty.

We love it here! It's so beautiful.  The trees are so lush and the hills are green.  I never imagined Tennessee to be as beautiful as it is.  I thought it would be more like the flat lands of the US.  But it's like the East Coast.  LOVE IT!!  We also miss all our family and friends we had to leave.  If we could have this home with all our loved ones with us life would be perfect!  So I guess we're only mediocre for now. :)

Check out this shot!

That's Clayton Osborn...he was just as surprised as everyone else.  It was made during one of his games at Lipscomb University.  I never thought that white boy was that good! :)

I know you are all anxiously awaiting photos of the house...I don't know how to get them from Will's Mac to my laptop...I'm working on it. :) A more pressing matter is at hand though, and I felt that what Becky and Garrett put on their blog was worth copying and pasting onto a post in my blog. I may even put it on my facebook page. Here's the pressing matter:

"We call upon responsible citizens everywhere..."

Those from or living in California right now are probably very familiar with Proposition 8. There's a good chance that others not from the Golden State have too heard about this proposed amendment that is being voted on in the November election. To give a brief history behind this all, here are a few bullet points to know:

In 2000, California voters passed Proposition 22 saying that marriage is between a man and a women.

Earlier this year in 2008, 4 supreme court judges in San Francisco over turned the people's vote back in 2000 (that was passed by more than 60% of the people), and legalized same-sex marriage.... simultaneously redefining marriage for the state of California.

Proposition 8 is going to be on this November election's ballet. By voting yes to Proposition 8, the definition of marriage will be restored back to how it was orginially stated in 2000 and will add a new section to the California constitution that will read:

"Only marriage between a man and woman will be recognized in the state of California"

As a member of the LDS church and having a firm testimony that marriage indeed between a man and a woman is ordained of God, and that the family is central to His plan, I fully support Proposition 8. I pray and hope that the people of California too will gain this knowledge for themselves, and have the courage to stand up for truth and righteousness to uphold the sacredness of the family unit.
As our beloved prophet President Gordon B. Hinckley and his counselors proclaimed in 1995, as a watchman from a tower giving warning to the Lord's people, they prophetically said:

We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

My hope and prayer is that we will do just that. (Garrett and Becky Giles)

I copy and paste this because my beliefs and testimony are just as strong and my conviction the same as these dear friends.

Now we know why we moved here!

Well, we've made a very long treck and made it to Tennessee. If I never see another box I'll be the happiest woman in the world. Packing nearly killed me, or at least my back. It's so beautiful here and we're only 10 hours away from Will's family. We actually just got back last night from visiting them all in Maryland. Mom Whited is in the hospital trying to get better, but having a difficult time making it home. It sounds like our visit came just at the right time. She was supposed to go home on the 28th of August, but complications in her recovery caused a delay with no date set to go home at this point. She was feeling very down about the whole thing. I think it really helped when we surprised her the day before her birthday. She didn't know we were coming and we had the boys poke their heads into her hospital room. Her eyes grew as big as quarters. It was wonderful seeing her and all the rest of the family. I'm excited for our boys to finally get to know all their other cousins. This move came with a huge purpose...for us to be near Will's side of the family! As much as we miss my side of the family...it's worth the change.